Celebrating Europe and its environment

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Treaty of Rome
50th anniversary website

This year not only marks the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome,
but also 35 years of European Union environmental policy. The European
Environment Agency celebrates the occasion by looking back at the last
50 years and reflecting on the environmental challenges that lie
ahead.

What we are celebrating

On 25 March 1957, six countries signed the Treaty
of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community. Their aim
was to create a Common Market in order to secure prosperity, peace and
stability. Environment was not part of the policy package.

But rising awareness, the first major environmental disasters in the
1950s and the 1960s, and the iconic images of our fragile planet as
seen for the first time from space, led to the breakthrough of the
environmental movement in the 1970s.

In 1972, the EU’s environmental policy was formally founded by a
European Council declaration and the first five-year Environment Action
Programme was adopted.

Today, sustainable development and environmental protection are
among the core values of the European Union, which now counts 27 Member
States. The EU is a frontrunner on many environmental issues, in terms
of policy-making as well as information-provision.